All, The recent threads regarding moderation, posting, etc., started with a post by Susan about Lachlan's intervention. The part that struck me was the bit about going "to the Goldsmiths College" website to find information about Lachlan. This triggered something else we had talked about before, namely identity and online realities. This was a very practical example, imho, of not separate existence, but existence at all, being challenged because of a lack of documentation online. I know this specific example is somewhat out of context, but I find the issue intriguing as there are numerous bits of science fiction where individuals "hide" by having no electronic documentation. I confess that I've used the internet to search for individuals whose names are associated with topics or papers I'm researching and I'm wondering how many of us do the same thing? We routinely include e-mails, home pages, links to articles available online, all of which constitute our bodies of work. My cv, which is out of date, is online so if someone wants, they can find out about my professional self, as well as information on contacting me via e-mail or voice. Do these electronic records, incomplete as they are, constitute my professional identity? And how does this differ from professional identities constructed thirty years ago? Further, what does this mean for identifies thirty years from now? Just a few thoughts that have been on my mind since the recent posts first began. --JW